"The rule change means companies will not be punished for killing migratory birds. It came a day after a new regulation restricting the use of scientific studies in policymaking."
"WASHINGTON — The Trump administration gutted protections for migratory birds on Tuesday, delivering the second of two parting gifts to the oil and gas industry, which has long sought to be shielded from liability for killing birds unintentionally in oil spills, toxic waste ponds and other environmental disasters.
The move, by the Department of the Interior, came a day after the Environmental Protection Agency finalized another regulation that had long been sought by fossil fuel companies and other major polluting industries: A measure that effectively bars some scientific studies from consideration when the agency is drafting public health rules.
The two regulations are among the last major environmental rollbacks expected from the Trump administration and will present an immediate challenge to the incoming Biden administration, which has pledged to suspend and reverse many of the last-minute rules known as midnight regulations."
Lisa Friedman reports for the New York Times January 5, 2021.
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